Molded plastic containers for packaging contents at elevated temperatures, such as “hot-fill” beverages, are known in the art. Once liquid contents that fill a container at elevated temperatures are permitted to cool, an internal pressure or vacuum is generated. In the absence of structural features for accommodating such internal pressure or vacuum forces, the container may deform. For example, a round container may experience ovalization, or tend to distort and become out of round.
Conventional hot-fill containers may, for instance, accommodate a vacuum pressure, which can be significant, by employing flex panels in the sidewall portion of the container to accommodate a change in internal pressure. For some conventional containers, vacuum panels and pinch-grip portions may be incorporated together. Moreover, some embodiments of hot-fill containers employ a circumferential rib or ring to help reduce distortions, such as ovalization, of the container.
However, in instances in which a hot-fill container is provided with grip panels, as a panel pulls in the sidewall of a container (e.g., in response to internal vacuum or pressures), the inward flexing of the panel can urge a circumferential rib to “open” in the front and back of the container, i.e., where a grip panel is not positioned. As such a circumferential rib “opens,” increased ovalization can be imparted on the container.
It is therefore desirable to, among other things, provide a container having a grip portion that is configured to better resist undesired deformation.